As the world continues to hunker down amidst these trying and uncertain times, marketers and researchers continue to take the pulse of an adjusted buying behavior both as it directly affects retail and, especially, B2B businesses. In recent marketing reports, both eMarketer and Avionos have found that B2B buying behavior has begun to seriously morph. The following comes directly from the research showing both what is happening now and how B2B came make their future adjustments.
- Before this global health crisis, US B2B buyers were concerned about the possibility of a recession. In a November 2019 survey from digital commerce solution provider Avionos, more than 80% of US B2B buyers said they were concerned about a recession in 2020.
- When asked what would help them get through a recession, US B2B buyers’ answers focused on vendors providing better resources: Roughly a third said they would need more quality and accurate information about what they are buying, while 23% of respondents noted they would need to have more confidence in the purchases they are making.
- Now that a recession is looking more likely, companies are going to cut spend in order to mitigate losses, prevent layoffs and in a worse case scenario, avert going out of business.
- In many cases, products and services that aren’t essential will be the first to get cut, at least in the short term. For B2B companies selling products that aren’t considered essential during this time, the next few months will not be easy. They should not pursue the hard sell or be too aggressive with marketing and sales touchpoints, which will come off as insensitive and turn off buyers who face tough decisions about where they need to cut.
- Instead, B2Bs should show compassion and offer solutions and deals while being consultative. This might not bring in revenues right away, but it will ultimately help them maintain and restore relationships, which will be beneficial once budgets return to normal.
- Some B2B buying will still occur and be necessary, especially for B2B tech buyers seeking software to enable remote working. An email survey conducted in mid-March by software reviews site TrustRadius asked software buyers worldwide about how they expect COVID-19 to impact their spending. Four in ten noted that they will spend more at least initially in order to make sure their employees can work from home with limited hiccups.
- WSome B2B buying will still occur and be necessary, especially for B2B tech buyers seeking software to enable remote working. An email survey conducted in mid-March by software reviews site TrustRadius asked software buyers worldwide about how they expect COVID-19 to impact their spending. Four in ten noted that they will spend more at least initially in order to make sure their employees can work from home with limited hiccups.
-Written by Kevin Sawyer
SearchPro Systems
2024